Electric current neophyte - bear with me... So if a toy requires 3 - 1.5V LR44 batteries to run, can you wire this toy to a GI or control lamp safely?
(Topic ID: 224338)
Richmond, VA
Quoted from sleepygtr:its a laser pointer if that helps....
I would think so in theory but you will need to convert the 6.3VAC (From the GI) to 4.5VDC in order to power the toy correctly. That would solve the issue of voltage and there are lots of little boards out there that can do that. I did it recently on my Gotlieb Victory for home made pinstadium lights that I wanted to be controlled by the GI circuit. That being said it only tells us one side of the story. What kind of amperage does this toy draw? IE what are the LR44 batteries rated for as if the amperage is too high you'll put strain on your GI circuit especially if the game is using incandescent lights instead of leds.
You need to test your GI some are around 6V DC and some are 6V AC, If you probe around with a multimeter on your driver board you will most likely find 5v DC almost every pinball machine uses it somewhere. 6-5V DC should power your lazer pointer just fine even tho its a volt or two over, you can also put a resistor inline on there. Also a simple diode inline with the + side will drop the voltage by 0.7V which should be enough.
Valencia
GI is usually AC, mainly to control the light intensity from the CPU, so it is not a good option to power your laser or other mod that needs DC. You can get 6v DC from some insert lamp, for example from the lamps in the slingshots or directly from the power supply board.
To get 4.5v for your laser, you can add two 1N4004 diodes in serial to reduce the voltage from 6v to 4.5v DC. It is the simplest and most economical way.
Thanks guys!! Really appreciate the advice.... installing a shark with friggin laser beam on his head on my AP
There are also Voltage step down boards, that you can set voltage, and use without soldering for
under $5 inc shipping on Ebay....
Quoted from sleepygtr:Thanks guys!! Really appreciate the advice.... installing a shark with friggin laser beam on his head on my AP
That's cool man post a pic when your done! I always likes AP very underrated game!
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
